I agree. Its not a super solid argument. I always felt Stockton had "it" as did Barkley. But there was always something about Malone. I guess he just didnt deliver on Sunday. You know the saying. To me Malone never showcased the 3rd gear that we saw from Olajuwon, Barkley, Jordan, V. Young. Malone's jaw dropping game winning out of this world performances were seldom. And Stockton created at least 12ppg for Malone.
You're right, and that's why I started the thread. I knew I was biased. You're right..he did improve throughout his career. Great work ethic. But none of that speaks to why he's great.
Ok, this one makes sense to me. His strength was great...but yeah, applied on defense, that actually makes a huge difference. And his steals...his hands were incredibly quick. That slap away from the post-man as he turned was money.. I guess his passing was underrated. When I think about it, I can certainly remember him being a good passer. Overall, I think you're right. He was just good across the board. Maybe not the best at any of them.. It just bothers me that he didn't have a post game outside his turnaround J...nor did he have much going to the basket unless it was causing contact. Every great PF in the argument had something more (Duncan, McHale, Barkley, whoever) than a J. And the 1st 2 are/were better defenders.
Because I am relatively young, I don't harbor the same hatred for the mailman that some of the older guys here do. The only real memories I have of Malone are of his great passing ability and mid-range jumper. The thing is, I never knew how athletic he was in his youth until I saw this highlight reel. <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cJXB43eBDwQ"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cJXB43eBDwQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object> The slap he lays on divac at the 1:07 mark really shows his tremendous strength which was probably his biggest asset.
His asset was consistency like Brock mentioned and also his insane work ethic which lead to his strength and accurate shooting. He worked his butt off, no question. But you need to learn to hate him. The Braves too. And maybe the Oilers defense.
Karla turned himself into a shooter. His last ten years in the league he basically had that one fadeaway shot and lived off it.
I think my fondest memory of Malone is when he went up for his "special delivery" dunk, and Hakeem swatted it. I just remember him looking like a fool. if somebody could find that video that would be awesome
Sadly I can certainly see Amare developing Malone's skillset. Running the court, pick and roll with a great PG, and he's starting to get an outside jumper (which will be his go to move once he gets older). Like Malone, he has no real post up moves except trying to overpower the opponent or use quickness. Its too bad he isn't paired with a young version of Nash, so his career will probably be worse.
Yeah... it's really just that he was the most ridiculously consistent player to ever play. Karl Malone pretty much never lost you the game. Problem is, he rarely stepped up to win it for you, either, because none of his skills were out-of-this-world. Indeed he was a worse defender than those first two... but he was more athletic than both of them, and he was a better defender than Barkley. And he did it for what, 15, 20 years? That's the difference. I think I'd take any one of those three over Malone in their primes... but over a whole career, it's tough not to take Malone.
Malone was great. I don't know what some of you guys are talking about. He ran the floor as well as any PF to ever play the game (think Shawn Marion). He he great hands -- quick, strong, and soft. He was part of the most effective pick and roll tandem ever -- he set a great screen, could hit the jumper, and could catch the pass and finish in traffic if need be. Solid rebounder, very good defender. Great passer out of the post. Basically no flaws in his game. Oh, and he played heavy minutes for 82 games a year, virtually every year.
You know, if it wasn't for their dirtiness, I'd actually respect the old Jazz quite a bit. Despite it's lack of glamour, Malone was simply rock solid. He was basically a superstar version of Otis Thorpe, one of my favorite Rocket. Stockton was just sick in terms of running that Utah offense. And unlike Nash and the Suns, he did it mainly in the half court. The Rockets(and basically everyone else) never had an answer to his pick & roll which he execute to perfection. Of course, as many others pointed out, the Jazz back then were just dirty. They were flopping all over the place before flopping became popular in the NBA. And Malone's leg kick is just sickening.
I agree with a lot of your post except this, the rockets pretty much handled the jazz fairly easily the first championship. and they beat the second championship, and I would suspect otis thorpe, funny you mention him, was probably one of the best defenders malone ever faced.
I never liked Karl Malone. In fact, I wrote this quite embarrassing "rap" about him back when I was 14, in the dinosaur days of the world wide web. http://members.tripod.com/~rockfan/commentary.html If you're wondering, I don't know the username or password to that account and since Tripod seemingly has no intention on removing pages that have been inactive for 10 years, it looks like my thoughts on the 96-97 Rockets will be on the web when I'm in my grave... That said, I think Karl Malone IS the greatest power forward in my lifetime, perhaps the greatest ever...He was so effective at what he did that it didn't matter how he was guarded or who was defending him. He was diesel strong, a phenomenal shooter, and could run the floor with the best. For all his dirty tactics, he was a darn good defensive player and very smart player on the court (I know this intellect is not necessarily reflected in anything he said or did off the court). For example, he had excellent shot-selection throughout his career (something Barkley did not) and executed the P&R perfectly.... ^^Probably the first and last time I defend Karl Malone. BTW, remember when Karl Malone meant to say "180" (degrees) but said "360" instead - I think he was talking about turning his game around or something like...For some reason that just popped into my head or maybe I just feel guilty praising him without getting in a little jab.
This is one the things that puzzle me. If Karl Malone didn't play dirty, he would still be one of the greatest PFs of all time. The Jazz of Malone-Stockton would still be the most consistent team ever. And Malone would be respected and probably a fan favorite even if he never won a title. But why oh why did he had to be such a scumbag and tainted all his accomplishments?
exactly. and considering i'm a short white guy who can shoot and isn't athletic and who even got called stockton (much to my dismay) in pickup games every once in a while (mostly just b/c of the short, white shooting part), i should've really liked flopton and he should've been one of my favorite players. but he was a dirty, elbow you in the kidneys, flop all over the place douchebag, and so he's one of my most hated ever. F you flopton!
